Unit 6 Earthquake

Did you still remember 26th October,2005? Something special happened in Wuhan.

Unit 6 Earthquake

• What’s an earthquake?• Earthquake: a sudden shaking of the earth's

surface that often causes a lot of damages (LDOCE)

What is an earthquake？ A sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great destruction, as a result of movementswithin the earth’s crust or volcanicaction.

Earthquakes are one of the most powerful natural forces that can disrupt( 扰乱 ) our daily lives.

Perhaps you remember being in an earthquake---the ground rumbles, hanging lamps begin to sway back and forth, shelves begin to rattle or spill their contents, the floor and wallsshake....

Even if you do not remember seeing or feeling an earthquake, you have probably lived through thousands of tiny earthquakes during your lifetime. The earth is constantly creating earthquakes.

– Why do earthquakes occur? – Why do some locations such as California

and Japan receive so many earthquakes? – Can we design a city to better withstand a

n earthquake? – Can we stop earthquakes before they occ

ur? Should we try?

Think about the following questions:

Try to describe the following map

What’s this? What’s the use of it ?

Seismograph ( 地震仪 )

an instrument that measures and records details of earthquakes, such as forces and duration

Unit 6 Earthquake

• One frequently asked question• Can we predict earthquakes? • No. No scientists have ever predicted a major

earthquake. They do not know how, and they do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future. However based on scientific data, probabilities can be calculated for potential future earthquakes.

What should we doWhat should we dobefore the coming before the coming of an earthquake?of an earthquake?

Unit 6 Earthquake

• POP-QUIZ• 1. Wherever you are, when you feel an

earth quake you should always: • a. panic• b. duck, cover and hold• c. read a book

Unit 6 Earthquake

• POP-QUIZ• 2. If you feel an earthquake starting and

you’re in your house, get over in the _____ of the room away from windows, large mirrors and shelves and then Duck, Cover and Hold until the shaking stops and you're sure it's safe to exit.

• a. fish tank• b. open the door right away and run out.• c. corner

Unit 6 Earthquake

• POP-QUIZ• 3. If you feel an earthquake starting and

you’re in your school, get under your ____ and then Duck, Cover and Hold until the shaking stops and follow the school emergency plan.

• a. desk• b. teacher's skin• c. book Shelf

Unit 6 Earthquake

• POP-QUIZ• 4. If you feel an earthquake starting and

you’re outside, get ________spot away from buildings, trees, power lines, and overpasses and then Duck, Cover and Hold until the shaking stops.

• a. Under a tree• b. Out in the open• c. An ice cream cone

Unit 6 Earthquake

• POP-QUIZ• 5. If your house uses natural gas, be sure

to turn it ___ after a quake hits. Also remember that electricity and water should be turned ___ after the quake as well.

• a. Off• b. Up• c. In

Unit 6 Earthquake

• POP-QUIZ• 6. Be cautious after an earthquake. Stay o

ut of damaged buildings in case of _________. Leave the area if you smell gas or fumes from the chemicals.

• a. Floods• b. Aftershocks( 余震 )• c. No cable TV

In case of an earthquake,how to respond to it ?

Unit 6 Earthquake

• Basic facts about earthquakes• Earthquakes are usually measured by Richter Scale. • The largest recorded earthquake in the world was

a magnitude 9.5 (Mw) 震级 in Chile on May 22, 1960

• It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 of them cause damage.

(see the table)

Number of Earthquakes Worldwide for 2000 - 2006 Magnitude 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

8.0 to 9.9 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 7.0 to 7.9 14 15 13 14 14 10 3 6.0 to 6.9 158 126 130 140 141 146 12 5.0 to 5.9 1345 1243 1218 1203 1515 1713 107 4.0 to 4.9 8045 8084 8584 8462 10888 13649 608 3.0 to 3.9 4784 6151 7005 7624 7932 8890 301 2.0 to 2.9 3758 4162 6419 7727 6316 4514 141 1.0 to 1.9 1026 944 1137 2506 1344 25 1 0.1 to 0.9 5 1 10 134 103 0 0

No Magnitude 3120 2938 2937 3608 2939 861 54 Total 22256 23534 27454 31419 31194 * 29809 * 1227

EstimatedDeaths 231 21357 1685 33819 284010 89354 0

Unit 6 Earthquake• Most earthquakes occur at depths of less than 80 k

m (50 miles) from the Earth's surface.

• The world's deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1556 in central China. It struck a region where most people lived in caves carved from soft rock. These dwellings collapsed during the earthquake, killing an estimated 830,000 people. In 1976 another deadly earthquake struck in Tangshan, China, where more than 250,000 people were killed.

Unit 6 Earthquake• The earliest recorded evidence of an earthquake

has been traced back to 1831 BC in the Shandong province of China, but there is a fairly complete record starting in 780 BC during the Zhou Dynasty in China.

• The cause of earthquakes was stated correctly in 1760 by British engineer John Michell, one of the first fathers of seismology, in a memoir[memwa:] 论文集 where he wrote that earthquakes and the waves of energy that they make are caused by "shifting masses of rock miles below the surface".

Unit 6 Earthquake• Most earthquake waves have a frequency of less

than 20 Hz, so the waves themselves are usually not heard. Most of the rumbling noise heard during an earthquake is the building and its contents moving.

• The majority of the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur along plate boundaries such as the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American plate. One of the most active plate boundaries where earthquakes and eruptions are frequent, for example, is around the massive Pacific Plate commonly referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Unit 6 Earthquake• Common myths about earthquakes• 1. "Head for the doorway"• An enduring earthquake image of California is a coll

apsed adobe house( 土砖房屋 )with the door frame as the only standing part. From this came our belief that a doorway is the safest place to be during an earthquake. True--if you live in an old, unreinforced adobe home. In modern houses, doorways are no stronger than any other part of the house and usually have doors that will swing and can injure you. You are safer under a table.

Unit 6 Earthquake

Adobe house: a house made by bricks and dry-mud.

Unit 6 Earthquake• 2. "It's hot and dry -- earthquake weather!"• Many people believe that earthquakes are more

common in certain kinds of weather. In fact, no correlation with weather has been found. Earthquakes begin many kilometers below the region affected by surface weather. People tend to notice earthquakes that fit the pattern and forget the ones that don't. Also, every region of the world has a story about earthquake weather, but the type of weather is whatever they had for their most memorable earthquake.

Unit 6 Earthquake

• 3. “Earthquakes are more liekly to occur in the early morning.”

• Earthquakes are equally as likely to occur at any time of the day or month or year. The factors that vary between the time of the day, month, or year do not affect the forces in the earth that cause earthquakes.

How to Prepare for Earthquakes

New Horizon College English

Unit 6: Section A

Questions on the text:

• 1. What have the scientists done in Japan in order to detect movements?

• 2. What have the Chinese people traditionally done about earthquake?

• 3. How are most of the people who die in earthquake killed? What should people and the architects do to improve building structure?

• 4. What should people in areas where earthquakes are common do to prepare their houses?

• 5. What should people in these regions do to prepare themselves?

• 6. What is the sensible way to keep all the family members informed of each other in a large earthquake-stricken city?

• 7. What should be a major emphasis for all government programs and earthquake-related research projects?

•     1. The first part is Paragraph 1. The general statement is how to know when an earthquake is going to happen — prediction of an earthquake.     2. The second is Paragraph 2. The general statement is how to prevent the great destruction of property caused by earthquakes.     3. The third part is from Paragraph 3 to Paragraph 6. The general statement is how to prepare for the possibility of a great earthquake.

    4. The fourth part is Paragraph 7. The author offers his advice as a conclusion: Even if prediction becomes possible in the future, people still have to do their best to prevent disasters by improving building structures and by being personally prepared.

The whole passage can be divided into 4 parts:

New Words and Expressions

• destruction: the act or process of destroying something or of being destroyed (ruin/devastation)

• E.g. the destruction of the rainforest• weapons of mass destruction (WMD)• The president flew in to look at the destruction

caused by the earthquake.• The war caused widespread death and destruction.

• withstand (endure/tolerate)• 1. to be strong enough to remain unharmed

by something such as great heat, cold, pressure etc

• 2. to defend yourself successfully against people who attack, criticize, or oppose you

• E.g. The bridge is built to withstand an earthquake of 8.3 magnitude.

Exercise really can help you withstand stress and strains more easily.

• Joint: adj. involving two or more people or groups, or owned or shared by them (mutual/shared)

• E.g. Joint venture/joint resolution The two ministers have issued a joint statement

. Both companies are involved in the joint

development of a new medium-sized car. The meal was a joint effort (=two or more

people worked on it together)

• enclose:• 1 to put something inside an envelope as well as

a letter (envelop/enwrap) eg. Please enclose a cheque with your order. Please find enclosed an agenda for the meeti

ng.• 2 to surround something, especially with a fence

or wall, in order to make it separate (cage/shut in)

eg. The pool area is enclosed by a six-foot wall. an enclosed area

• extinguish: • 1 to make a fire or light stop burning or shining (put o

ut/quench) eg. He managed to extinguish the flames with his co

at. Passengers are requested to extinguish all cigaret

tes when the red light goes on.• 2 to make an idea or feeling stop (wipe out/uproot) eg. The news extinguished all hope of his return.

• handy:• 1 useful (practicable/functional) eg. It's quite a handy little tool. It's very handy havi

ng a light above your desk. Take your swimming trunks with you - they migh

t come in handy (=be useful) .• 2 informal near and easy to reach (close-at-hand)) eg. I always keep my gun handy just in case. Do y

ou have a piece of paper handy ?

• sensible: reasonable, practical, and showing good judgment

eg. Be sensible - you can't go out without a coat in this weather.

He's one of the few sensible people on the council.

He gave me some very sensible advice. He was sensible enough to see that Jake was

the best candidate for the job.